Monday 30 November 2009 17.07 EST
First published on Monday 30 November 2009 17.07 EST

Gordon Brown took the unusual step today of announcing that just over 500 special forces soldiers are spearheading Britain's fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

On the eve of Barack Obama's statement on Afghanistan, Brown praised the special forces for "taking the fight directly to the Taliban", as he confirmed that a further 500 regular troops would be deployed within days. Those troops, all of whom will arrive in Afghanistan by Christmas, are Britain's contribution to the new international military and political surge that will be announced by Obama tomorrow night.

Brown said he had authorised the new troops after three conditions, set out in October, had been met. They are:

• Sufficient equipment will be provided for troops. Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the chief of the defence staff, assured ministers today that troops are adequately equipped. New Merlin helicopters are operational in Afghanistan a month ahead of schedule; the number of mine-resistant Mastiff vehicles will have doubled since August; and the number of smaller Ridgback vehicles will have increased by more than 75%. Support for each member of the armed forces is worth £400,000, compared with £190,000 three years ago.

• Other members of the coalition are sharing the burden. The number of non-British and non-US forces will have risen to 30,000 soon, compared with 16,000 in January 2007.

• Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, has agreed that more Afghan troops will be available for training. Karzai has said that 5,000 members of the new Afghan national army corps will be deployed to Helmand province next year.

The prime minister told MPs: "With the three conditions now met, I can confirm that we will move to a new force level of 9,500, and that the extra troops will deploy in early December to thicken the UK troop presence in central Helmand, and from late January will make the transition to a partnering role."

In an attempt to highlight the depth of Britain's commitment, Brown broke with convention to give details of the 500 special forces who are deployed in Afghanistan. He said: "At this time of increasing international effort it is right to give a more comprehensive account of our total military commitment to the Afghanistan campaign. I believe the British people have a right to know and deserve the assurance that our highly professional, widely respected and extraordinarily brave special forces are playing their full role not only in force protection but in taking the fight directly to the Taliban, working in theatre alongside our regular forces.

"I want the whole country to pay tribute to them. Taking into account these special forces, their supporting troops and the increases announced today, our total military effort in Afghanistan will be in excess of 10,000 troops."

Brown cleared his announcement about the special forces with the Ministry of Defence because ministers usually do not comment on their deployment. It is understood that, among their many tasks, the forces are making contributions in two important areas:

• Targeting members of the Taliban and al-Qaida laying the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that have been responsible for so many British casualties. So far this year 99 British soldiers have been killed in operations in Afghanistan, the heaviest toll since the conflict began in 2001. One unnamed Whitehall source said: "The special forces are having a real impact in this area. They are at the centre of protecting our forces."

• Launching undercover operations to kill members of al-Qaida and the Taliban. "Regular forces are holding ground and building trust," the source said. "The special forces are taking the fight to the Taliban in a more direct way."

The prime minister told MPs that the overall military commitment would improve the security of the Afghan people and allow Britain to contribute to a renewed political push to support the Afghan government, both centrally and locally.

He announced over the weekend that Karzai would agree to a series of benchmarks at an international conference on Afghanistan in London on 28 January. These include expanding Afghanistan's army from 90,000 to 134,000, increasing its police force in Helmand to 4,100 officers, and ensuring that governors in 400 provinces and districts are appointed on merit as part of a crackdown on corruption.

Brown said: "In all we do we will never forget the fundamental truth of this military campaign: that keeping the streets of our country free from terrorism is our utmost priority and that for a safe Britain we need a stable Afghanistan."